Friday, July 31, 2015

My most anticipated panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour was the Starz panel for Ash Vs. Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell dominated the panel, both via questions asked of him, and those asked of his costars and collaborators. Wearing a white dinner jacket and what could’ve quite possibly been alligator shoes (from this distance from the stage), Campbell made sure to let the room know he was there as he talked about the bloody show and his long relationship with fans.

From the horror movie franchise that coined the term "splatstick," there's one thing the new Starz TV series extension of the "Evil Dead" movies needs to get right: It needs to be bloody. And star Bruce Campbell is ready to answer fans, yes, there will be blood.

Ash is back, baby — and despite moving to TV, he won’t be pulling any punches.

In Starz’s Ash vs. Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell reprises his role as the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. Now, when a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons — personal and literal.

“It would be silly of us to rip the fans off by doing a watered-down version of the series,” Campbell said Friday at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour. “If this came out as a movie, it would be unrated. … The beauty of working with Starz is we have no content restriction whatsoever.”

“This series will force us to make more movies,” Bruce Campbell said today at the TCA session. “That’s only 10 hours of programming; we need eight more movies,” the Ash Vs. Evil Dead star joked about what the franchise’s zealous fans would demand. “Making a fourth movie would work. … No matter what we give them, it will never be enough.”

Thursday, July 30, 2015

The elevator pitch for 1987's classic comedy-horror Evil Dead 2 would be simple: the same, but more. More blood, more monsters, more chain saw-wielding craziness. Without the beast-wrangling skills of effects genius Robert Kurtzman, the sequel would have had much less splatter. Kurtzman still leaves his bloody handprint over contemporary creature flicks like last year's werewolf wonder Late Phases, but he returns to the scene of one of his original crimes with a special 35mm screening, courtesy of the ghouls of Garth Manor.

“I haven’t come to a comic con promoting an ‘Evil Dead’ since probably ‘Army of Darkness,'” “Ash vs Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell declared during an interview with press at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “But I don’t think I even came to Comic-Con at that time for ‘Army of Darkness’ — which was 24 years ago. It’s great. It’s the maximum potential, because now people aren’t going, [whiny voice] ‘Hey, I remember you. You’re the guy that was Ash.’ They’re like, ‘You’re fucking Ash! You’re playing Ash.’ It makes people very happy.”

Even though we all knew that this was going to be the case, it’s still really great to get confirmation that the ’73 Delta 88 that has been featured in nearly every single Sam Raimi film is back for “Ash vs Evil Dead“, as confirmed by Bruce Campbell himself!

Campbell responded to a fan who was asking about “The Classic” and stated that the original vehicle was shipped to New Zealand for the filming of the 10-episode show.